


Profile Me

by Before_my_time



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, emily has a crush, reader is a badass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29842434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Before_my_time/pseuds/Before_my_time
Summary: When Emily comes back to help the BAU after being Unit Cheif at Interpol, she meets (Y/N), an interesting figure that she wants to get to know better. But despite everything Emily thinks she knows, (Y/N) still has more to her than meets the eye.
Relationships: Emily Prentiss/Reader
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

*Emily POV*

“Some things never change,” I say as I walk into the BAU. JJ turns around in surprise. 

“Hey, you!” she says as she gets up and runs over, kissing me on the cheek. 

“Welcome back!” I hear Reid say as he runs over and throws his arms around me in a hug. 

“Doughnuts?” he asks as he pulls away, “Wait, did you happen to get…”

“Chocolate frosted with sprinkles? Yes,” I say with a laugh, “How could I forget your favorite?” Reid immediately opens the box and starts eating a doughnut. 

“It is so great to see you,” JJ says. “Even if it's only temporary.”

Well, when Hotch told me the director tapped him for special assignment, I wanted to help out,” I say. 

“Lewis is going to be sorry she missed you,” Reid says. 

“Oh, yeah, me, too.” I look around and notice an empty desk. I decide to put my stuff down, but as I do Reid stops me.

“That's actually (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N)’s desk,” he says. 

“Really? It looks empty,” I say, but move my stuff to the desk across from it anyway. 

“Yeah, well, she travels light,” JJ says. 

“Garcia said she was ex-army. Came over from the Fugitive Task Force?” I ask as I prop myself against the desk. 

“Yeah,” Reid says with a smile, as he takes another bite of the doughnut in his hand, “you're really going to like her.”

“You know,” I say, as I glance at the almost empty desk, “the lack of personal effects on her desk could stem from her days as a fugitive hunter. She probably felt like she was never in one place long enough to dig in.”

“I mean, no family photos, no significant others. Not even a plant to over water. I mean, this (Y/L/N) could be a real loner type. Somebody probably did a real number on this girl. An ex, maybe. I mean, no doubt the army taught her order and discipline but a desk like this could mean she has commitment issues,” just as I finish up my profile, I look back over at Reid and JJ, and see them giving me strange looks.

My heart jumps to my throat and my entire being fills with panic and embarrassment. 

“She's behind me right now, isn't she?” I ask cautiously. JJ gives me a small nod, and Reid just can’t help himself from laughing at my embarrassment. 

Standing up from the desk, I turn around and see a sight that I didn’t expect. Standing in front of me is a beautifully rugged-looking woman who is about my height. She’s wearing a leather jacket, and I can just see a peak of a tattoo that she has on her collarbone. 

“Emily, meet (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N),” Reid says. 

“H...hey, nice to meet you,” I stutter out as I reach across to shake her hand.

“Emily used to be part of our team, and now she's the unit chief for Interpol in London,” Reid continues.

“Yeah, she's agreed to help us out while Hotch is off on a TDY and Lewis works on her research,” JJ says. 

“I'm on temporary duty so I'll be in and out,” I say, still feeling the awkward tension from before. “I'll be working on and off. I'm on today. Obviously. I'm just...I'm really happy that I could, uh, come back, you know, and help…” 

Stop talking Emily, just stop talking, my brain screams but I can’t help myself. 

“Truth be told, it's pretty hard to resist putting the band back together again, so...Yeah, so, I'm here to help.” I finally finish talking and glance back at (Y/N), to see she has a large smile on her face. 

“Well, we have a lot on our plate,” she says, “glad to have the help.”

“Speaking of,” Reid says, causing you all to turn around and see Garcia rushing to the roundtable room, “it looks like we have a case.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - 

Of course, just my luck that for the stakeout I would get partnered with (Y/N). Not only am I still embarrassed from the incident earlier, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t think she was crazy hot.

Speaking of hot, it gets a little warm in the car we are sitting in, so halfway into the stakeout, (Y/N) takes off her jacket. It takes every part of me not to let my mouth drop open. Not only does she have the tattoo on her collarbone I got a peek at earlier, but she also has a couple on her very toned biceps. 

I wonder if she has anymore, possibly in places that aren’t so visible. The thought comes into my mind before I can stop it, and my face flushes red. 

“You don’t like stakeouts much?” she asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

“If I never do a stakeout again, It’ll be too soon,” I say, causing her to laugh. God that laugh is even more beautiful than she is. 

“You like them that much, huh?” she asks, teasingly. 

“Let me count the ways,” I say, “the ass numbing boredom, the greasy fast food, the cold coffee, and have I mentioned how much I hate peeing in the woods.” 

“Yeah,” (Y/N) says with a nod, “I can see that about you.”

“See what?” I ask, my eyebrows furrowed. 

“You like things to be a certain way, you need a certain level of control.” I must have been giving her a look of disbelief because she laughs again. “It’s ok, everybody has their thing.”

“I see somebody has been studying,” I say. 

“Oh I don’t need to study to be able to study you?” she says as she looks over at me. 

“Oh really?” I ask, taken back by her boldness. 

“Emily Prentiss, you are an open book,” she says as she moves in her seat, and focuses all of her attention on me. “You’re an east coast girl, but not Boston. Definitely not New York. I’m Bronx, born and raised so I would know. If I had to guess I would say D.C.”

“Yeah ok, good guess,” I say. She chuckles a bit before continuing. 

“You are comfortable overseas, you probably traveled a lot as a kid. I’d say your parents were diplomats, or you were a military brat,” she pauses for a moment while her gaze travels over me, “No, no definitely diplomats.” 

“You had to have read my file,” I say to her, amused and surprised at how good she is at this. 

“Nope,” she says with a shake of her head, “I’m just good at knowing people. And now I have profiled you, so we are even.” The smile falls off my face, and I instantly feel guilty again. 

“I’m sorry about earlier,” I say. 

“It’s all good,” she says with a shrug, “You’re a pretty decent profiler, you managed to get most of it right.” 

“So what did I get wrong?” I ask. 

“Oh,” she says as her voice drops to an almost whisper, “I don’t know you well enough to tell you that.” Shivers run down my spine when I realize that at some point in the conversation, we had drifted closer to each other, and now we are barely a foot apart. 

Suddenly we see headlights driving up, and the tension is broken. 

“Looks like that could be our guy, let’s check it out,” she says as she winks at me, and gets out of the car. 

This woman is going to be the death of me, I think as I quickly follow after her


	2. Chapter 2

*Reader's POV*

You guys wrapped the case up fairly quickly, you and Emily being the ones to take the guy down. Now that all of you were back in Quantico, you are sitting at your desk finishing paperwork, while JJ and Emily are catching up at JJ’s desk. 

“Hey, (Y/N),” JJ calls over to you, “we’re headed over to O’keefe’s. You wanna come?” She asks.

“Thanks for the invite, but I have some work I am going to finish up,” you say as you point to the report you are writing about the case you just finished. 

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road, this lady needs to get her drink on,” Garcia says as she walks over, causing all of you to laugh. 

“Please tell me you are coming,” she says as she looks over at you, “I need my designated driver.” You shake your head in response as you point to the file again. 

“Sorry love, I have work to do.” Garcia pouts and gives you her puppy dog eyes. 

“Can’t it wait until tomorrow, we barely have any fun when you’re not there,” she pleads. 

“Hey, what are we chopped liver?” Emily asks in mock offense. 

“Well I guess if I can’t have my girl, then you two will do,” Garcia says dismissively before walking towards the elevator. 

The three of you laugh and shake your heads at her before JJ starts walking after her. 

“I just need thirty more seconds,” Emily calls to JJ, and JJ gives her a thumbs-up as she continues to follow Penelope. 

Emily walks over to your desk, and you can tell that she seems a little nervous. 

“Hey,” she says. 

“Hey,” you say back. 

“You did some nice work today,” Emily compliments you. 

“Thank you,” you say with a smile, “you too.”

She smiles at you awkwardly, before nodding her head and turning around, and heading towards the elevators. 

“Hey, Emily,” you call after her, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around. 

“Did you change your mind about O’Keefe’s?” she asks, hopefulness in her voice. 

“Uh, no, I didn’t,” you say, and you can see Emily’s eyes fill with disappointment. “I just wanted to say that I am glad you are here.”

“Oh, well you know I am only here to help,” she says, as she nervously bites her lip, and suddenly your mouth goes dry and your heart skips a beat. 

“Well, thank you,” you manage to say. 

Emily shoots you a small wave, before quickly turning around and walking back to JJ and Garcia. 

Once she has out of your sight, you relax your body and lean back in your chair, your head thrown back looking at the ceiling. You let out an exasperated sigh, mentally cursing yourself for being so awkward. Your normal, cool, calm, and collected attitude completely goes out of the window when she is around. 

What is she doing to you? 

*Emily’s POV*

“You know,” I hear Garcia telling JJ as I approach the two of them, “I think the reason she’s not coming with us is because of somebody named Chase.” 

“Oh tell me more,” JJ says. 

“Come on guys,” I say as we all step into the elevator, “there is no way.”

“Why do you say that?” JJ asks with a raised eyebrow. 

“Are you two serious?” I ask, confused. The two of them look at me, obviously just as confused as I am. “Nevermind.” 

The elevator starts to descend and the two of them continue their gossiping, and I let them. Maybe it was wishful thinking, or maybe it’s just because I have a better gaydar, but there was no way that (Y/N) is straight right?

I mean if the tattoos weren’t a dead giveaway, then the leather jacket definitely was. But I guess I couldn’t expect the two of them to realize it though, they didn’t even know that I was gay until I told them. 

But maybe I am just making assumptions, maybe (Y/N) isn’t gay. Maybe she really does have a boyfriend named Chase.

I am suddenly filled with a very uneasy feeling. Why does the thought of that make me uneasy? There is no way that I am jealous, I have only known her for like a day. 

“So who is going to be the DD?” I hear Garcia ask, as the elevator doors open. 

“We can take an Uber,” JJ suggests. 

“Is (Y/N) always the designated driver?” I ask, and they nod in response. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“Oh, she doesn’t drink,” Garcia says matter of factly. That takes me by surprise. 

“Why?” I ask, but all I get in response are shrugs. 

“She’s not very open with her personal life,” JJ says as the three of you walk out of the building. “But if anybody can get her to open up, I’m pretty sure it’ll be you.” 

*Reader POV*

The next morning, the girls are a funny sight to see as they walk into the BAU. You can’t help but let out a giggle at Garcia stumbling her way towards her office. 

“What did you guys do to her?” you ask JJ as she walks to her desk. 

“We told her to stop, but you know how she is,” she says. 

“And what about you two?” you ask, looking at Emily in particular who seems to be in surprisingly good shape. 

“You don’t have to worry about me,” she says as she sits down at her desk across from you. “I can handle my drinks.” She winks at you, and you duck your head to hide the blush on your face. 

“I learned some things about you,” you hear her whisper, causing you to look back up at her. 

“Oh really?” you question. 

“Yep. Mind if I take a shot?” 

“Knock yourself out,” you say as you cross your arms and prepare for whatever she is about to say.

“You have a man in your life,” she says suddenly, and you almost laugh at how wrong she is. “But he’s not human.” Now that you didn’t expect. 

You reach into your pocket and open your phone. Pulling up your photos, you show Emily the man in your life. Your dog, Chase. 

“You got another one right, congratulations,” you say as she takes the phone out of your hand. “You’ll have to come over and meet him sometime.”

She turns her nose up and hands the phone back to you. 

“Thank you, but I’m more of a cat person,” she says, causing you to laugh. 

“Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me,” you say, and she smirks at you. 

“You don’t know me as well as you think,” she says. 

“Hm, we’ll see,” you say with a shrug


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW - Reference to past abuse

*Emily’s POV*

“Emily!” I hear, and I turn around at my desk. Tara walks out of the elevator, and I stand up to go over to meet her. 

“It’s so good to see you,” I say as I pull her into a hug. “How was your research?”

“Ugh, let’s just say I am glad to be back here.” Tara walks over to her desk, and I walk behind her, excited to finally get a chance to catch up. She has been doing research away from the BAU so I haven’t seen her at all for the month that I have been back. 

“So,” she says as she sits down in her chair and I prop myself on her desk, “I am assuming you’ve already met (Y/N).” 

I can’t help the small smile that comes onto my face when Tara says her name. 

“Ok, I know that look, spill it, sister,” Tara says. 

“I don’t have a look,” I try and defend myself but Tara just laughs and shakes her head. 

“Oh, you definitely do. So you and (Y/N) huh?” she asks. 

“No, no absolutely not. Whatever you think is happening, is not happening,” I say. 

“So you don’t have a crush on (Y/N)?” she asks. 

“I don’t have a crush on her, she’s just…” I trail off at the end of my sentence while I search for the right words. 

“Hot, sexy, strong, funny, cool,” Tara suggests. 

“It kind of sounds like you have a crush on her,” I say, trying to shift the focus of the conversation. 

“I can admit that she is attractive without wanting to get in her pants,” Tara says as she leans back in her chair and props her feet up on the desk. “Can you?” 

Just then Penelope runs over and throws her arms around Tara. Saved by the bell, I think to myself. JJ and (Y/N), are following not far behind Garcia, and they also give Tara hugs as they welcome her back. 

“The whole gang's together now!” Garcia says excitedly. “We need to have a girl's night.”

“I don’t think we have a case today,” JJ says, “You wanna do something tonight?” 

“I’m always down for a drink with my girls,” Tara says. 

“What about you (Y/N)?” JJ asks as she turns to the newest member of our group, “You down?”

“Count me in.”

*Reader POV*

After work, the five of you had decided to head down to O’keefe’s for girls' night. When you guys started, things were pretty chill, but as more drinks were served Garcia may have had a few too many. 

“Are you good to drive her home, Tara? You know I could always do it,” you say, but she just waves you off. 

“I’m good I promise. I only had one drink and that was an hour and a half ago.” Tara puts her arm around Garcia, and with a wave, the two of them make their way out of the bar. 

“Look at the time,” JJ says, as she looks down at her watch. “I really should get home to the boys.” 

“Go be a supermom,” Emily says, as JJ also waves and walks out, leaving you and Emily sitting in the booth alone. 

“And then there were two,” you say with a small laugh. 

“You’re not going to leave too are you?” Emily asks jokingly. 

“Nope,” you say with a shake of your head, “Nobody to go home to, and It’s kind of hard to get wasted when you don’t drink” Emily laughs at first, but then gives you a more serious look. 

“I know what you're thinking,” you say, catching her off guard. “You’re thinking “How come a girl like that doesn’t drink?” and no I’m not profiling you right now, that’s just what everybody thinks.”

“Well you’re not wrong, that is what I was thinking,” she says. 

“I’ll give you a hint,” you say as you lean forward, and place your forearms on the table. “And we’ll see if you can profile the rest.” 

She raises an eyebrow and gives you a suspicious look, before smirking at you. 

“Ok fine,” she says. 

“Something happened in my childhood,” you say. Emily sits there like she is waiting for you to say more, but you just sit back and take a sip of your Shirley Temple. 

“Wait that’s all I get?” she asks, “that’s barely even a hint.”

“Are you saying you can’t do it,” you ask teasingly, “I thought you were an amazing profiler?”

She gives you a dirty look and hums as she rests her chin in her hand. 

“Can I see your tattoos?” She asks suddenly. 

“Interesting approach,” you say, trying to keep your cool demeanor. You take off your jacket, leaving your shoulders and arms exposed. “I could show you more, but we gotta keep it pg13.” 

A pink tint rises in Emily’s face, and she clears her throat before she starts to scan her eyes over your tattoos, looking for something that will reveal all of your secrets. 

“That one,” she finally says, as she points to a rather large raven on your left shoulder. “It’s for one of your parents right?” 

“Good job,” you say, “Which one?”

“Your mom,” Emily immediately shoots back. She sighs and looks at you with sadness in her eyes. “She died, didn’t she? Maybe a drunk driver. Is that why you don’t drink?”

“Close,” you say as you give her a sad smile. You honestly didn't think she would be able to get it, how were you supposed to know she would ask to look at your tattoos. “I’ll give you the point even though you didn’t get it.”

“So are you going to tell me what happened?” Emily asks in a soft voice, almost a whisper. 

“My dad,” you say, as you feel emotion well up in your body, ”he was an alcoholic, and when he got drunk he got violent. One day my mom pushed his buttons and he took it too far, got the shotgun off of the wall. I was the one who called the ambulance.” 

“You said he was violent, did he ever…” she asks, but she trails off before she can say what she means. But that doesn’t mean you don’t know what she was going to say. 

“Yeah, sometimes. My mom would protect me, but there were times when she couldn’t.”

The two of you sit in silence for a moment, before Emily reaches across the table and grabs your hand. You look up at her, and your gaze meets hers. For some reason, even though the two of you are sitting in the middle of a bar surrounded by strangers, you feel comfortable and safe. Nobody that you had ever met made you feel that way, but somehow Emily had in the short time that you knew her. 

“I’ve never told that to anybody,” you say quietly. 

“Thank you for telling me,” Emily says with a soft smile. 

Without letting go of your hand, she stands up from the table pulling you with her. She lays a couple of bills down on the table and turns to look at you. 

“Come on, let’s get out of here," she says, shaking off the somber mood you had just created, "It’s getting pretty late.”

“I can drive both of us to my house,” you say as the two of you walk out of the bar. 

“Your house?” Emily questions. 

“Yeah,” you say, giving her a “duh” look. “You still need to meet chase.”

“I told you I am a” Emily starts to say but you interrupt her. 

“Cat Person,” you say with a roll of your eyes, “I know. But you’ll love Chase I promise.”

Emily groans, you laugh, and hand in hand, the two of you walk across the parking lot. But little did you know that Emily was feeling the exact same way you were. She too had finally found somebody that made her feel safe


	4. Chapter 4

*Reader's POV*

“Chase,” you call out as you walk through the door, Emily apprehensively tailing behind you. “Come here, boy.”

You hear the pitter-patter of paws running on hardwood, and from around the corner, the large Golden Retriever comes barrelling at you. You crouch down and when he gets to you, he immediately lays down for you to give him belly rubs. 

“Did you have fun with Maddie today?” you ask, your voice jumping a couple of pitches up. 

“Maddie?” you hear Emily question under her voice. 

“My dog walker,” you say as you look up at her. You see a look of relief come onto her face and you can’t help but laugh. 

“Were you just jealous?” you ask as you stand up and face Emily. 

“Of course not,” she says with a roll of her eyes, “Why would I be jealous?”

“Hmm, I don’t know Emily Prentiss, why would you be jealous?” you question with a smirk. 

Chase gets up off of the floor and walks over to jump on the couch and lay in his favorite spot. With a wink to Emily, you turn and follow after him. You pick up the remote as Chase lays his front paws and head in your lap. 

You scratch behind his ears and look back up at Emily, who is still standing in the same spot by the door. She is looking around the room and you know what she is thinking. It’s what everybody thinks when you invite them over. They expect leather couches, dark walls, and skulls for decor. What they actually get is something you could probably find on Pinterest. 

“Are you gonna just stare all night?” you ask her, causing her gaze to settle on you. “Or are you going to come over here and help me pick out a movie?”

“I’m just taking it in,” she says, as her eyes wander again. 

“What?” you ask. 

“You, Chase, your house,” she says. 

“What, just because I have tattoos, like leather, and ride a motorcycle means I can’t like plants and cute dogs?” you ask, as you cross your arms over your chest. 

“No it’s not that at all,” Emily says panicked, “I just...”

“I’m kidding Em,” you say with a laugh, and you visibly see her sigh a breath of relief. “Now seriously, come over here.”

She walks over to the couch and sits next to you. Chase picks his head up from your lap and moves closer to Emily to sniff her. 

“He doesn’t bite, I promise,” you say with a giggle, as you look at Emily’s frowned face. You reach over and grab her hand, and place it on top of Chase’s head. “He loves being scratched behind his ears.” 

Hesitantly, she starts to pet him, as you scroll through the tv to find something to watch. 

“I really don’t know anything about you,” Emily says after a few moments. 

“Sure you do,” you say back to her. “If anything, I don’t know anything about you”

“I thought you said I was an open book?” she questions. 

“Yeah, but half of the pages are blanked out. You only let people see what you want them to see.” She gives you a guilty look. 

“Well then we should get to know each other better,” she suggests. “All I know is that you’re a dog person.”

“And you’re a cat person,” you counter. 

“You drive a motorcycle.”

“And you hate them.”

“Hey,” she says, “I don’t hate motorcycles.”

“What was it you said when I drove it to work one day? You said it was “sexy, but statistically stupid” you remind her with a laugh. 

“Ok, so I’m not the biggest fan, that doesn’t mean I hate them,” she says as you roll your eyes. 

“Ok, ok let’s move on. I know that you speak, what, five different languages.” 

“Et je sais que tu ne parle que l'anglais,” she says, and you reach over and poke her in the side. 

“I don’t know what you just said but if it was something bad you’re gonna be in trouble,” you say. She just laughs at you. 

Emily scoots closer to you, to the point where if you were any closer, you would be on top of each other. 

“I know about your past,” she says quietly as she looks into your eyes. “With your dad.”

“And I know about yours with Doyle,” you say, matching her tone. “See, we know more than we thought.” 

Emily gives you a light smile and you smile at her back. You catch her eye, and subconsciously you bite your bottom lip. Emily leans forward and places her hand gently on the side of your face. Your eyes drift closed as she pulls you closer, and your breath hitches in your throat. 

Your lips are centimeters away from hers, when suddenly Chase, who had been calmly laying on the couch for the last few minutes, bolts up and starts barking. The two of you jump apart, the moment permanently broken. 

“Chase,” you say as you walk over to calm him down, “It’s just the neighbors, buddy.” 

Once he calms down, you turn back around to Emily, and give her a nervous smile, as you try and shake off the tension in the room. 

“Now what movie did you wanna watch?”

*Emily’s POV*

I am woken up the first time when I feel somebody moving next to me. Opening my eyes, I look over and see that (Y/N) is tucked into my side. We must’ve fallen asleep because the tv is playing the credits of the movie we were watching.

If only Chase hadn’t started barking, I think to myself, as I look down at her sleeping form. But if I had kissed her, would that have been a good thing or a bad thing?

I start to move to get up and clear my head, but as I do, she tightens her grip around me. I feel a tug at my heart and know there is no way I am getting up now.

With minimum movement, I grab the remote and cut off the tv, before getting back comfortable, and allowing myself to drift back off to sleep. 

The second time I am woken up is when I feel something wet drag across my cheek. My eyes shoot open and the only thing I see is golden fur. 

“Chase,” I say with a groan, and try to gently push the retriever off of me. He doesn’t seem to want to budge until we both hear humming in the kitchen. He immediately gets up and follows the noise and I get myself oriented before doing the same. 

As I follow Chase, I walk into the kitchen to see (Y/N) cooking, as she hums a song I can’t recognize. I stand in the doorway and just admire her for a second. I watch as Chase patiently sits next to her as she takes a piece of bacon and throws it to him. He catches it, and she does a little dance of excitement. The (Y/N) that I am seeing now, definitely is not the (Y/N) I see at work. 

How is it possible that I am falling for her so fast? I think to myself. 

“Oh hey Emily,” she says as she notices me, “I didn’t realize that you were up.”

“Yeah, your dog decided to give me a bath,” I say, and she laughs. 

“That’s just how he shows his love,” she says as she grabs two plates to put the food on. 

“I didn't know you could cook. I just keep learning new things about you,” I say as I sit at the kitchen table. She puts the plates of food down and sits next to me. 

“Stick around and maybe you’ll learn a little more,” she says with a wink.


	5. Chapter 5

“No, I am dead serious!” you say as you, JJ, Reid, Luke, and Tara walk out of the elevator together. 

“There’s no way,” JJ says with a shake of her head. 

“The probability of that happening more than once is astounding,” Reid says. 

“I know, but I was there ok. And I am telling you it was crazy.”

As the five of you round the corner and walk into the bullpen, Garcia comes rushing up to you in a panic. 

“Thank God, you guys are here. What do you know?” she asks, as her eyes dart between the three of you. 

“Uh, nothing,” you say, a confused look on all of your faces. 

“Ok, Rossi got here crazy early, and right when Prentiss came in, he pulled her in there,” Garcia motions up to Rossi's office, and through the blinds, you can see Emily and Rossi talking to each other. 

“We need to talk,” Rossi says, and he and Emily walk over to the roundtable room. You all share a look of apprehension before following after them. 

“Ok, ok. What’s going on?” Garcia asks before you could all even get into the room and get settled. 

“It’s Hotch,” Rossi says. You hear Garcia gasp. 

“Oh my God. Is he ok?” She asks, panicked, and you place your hand on her back to try and comfort her. 

“He’s ok,” Emily says, and you can feel everybody breathe a sigh of relief. 

“But he hasn’t been away on special assignment. That’s something we had to say as a cover for the investigation,” Rossi says. 

“What investigation?” Luke questions. 

“Hotch saw Peter Lewis watching one of Jack’s soccer games. By the time Hotch reacted, Lewis had taken off. The Bureau searched the area, but he disappeared.”

“When was this?” JJ asks. 

“Days after Mr. Scratch resurfaced in Arizona,” Emily says. 

“One of the victims was chanting his name when we found her. She had “Hotch" Carved into her forehead. It really got to him,” Tara says more to you than to the rest of the team. 

You hadn’t been a part of the team when they first encountered Mr. Scratch, but you had definitely heard about him and knew that he was not the person to mess with. 

“Why didn’t he tell us,” Garcia asks, tears starting to form in her eyes, “We could’ve focused on finding Mr. Scratch.”

“So what now?” you ask, looking at Emily and Rossi, “They have around-the-clock surveillance?”

“Initially yes,” Emily says with a nod, “Agents were assigned to watch Jack 24/7. But when we were all in L.A., Scratch surfaced again, this time at Jack’s school.” 

“Which is why Hotch and Jack have now entered the program,” Rossi adds. 

“Witness protection?” Reid asks, and Rossi nods. 

“He went away thinking that eventually, he could come back, but things have changed. He’s now decided he can’t put Jack in danger again. He just sent in his resignation.”

Everybody in the room is taken by surprise and it takes your brain a minute to realize what Rossi is saying. 

“So what are we gonna do? We can’t possibly find a replacement for Hotch,” you say.

“Hotch spoke with the director about who should replace him,” Rossi says. “Hotch’s final request was that Emily becomes the BAU’s new bureau chief.” 

“Thank the universe for silver linings,” Garcia says as she walks over to Emily and pulls her into a hug. 

“Congratulations, Emily,” Luke says

“This’ll be good right?” Reid asks.

“Are you kidding this will be great,” JJ says with a smile. 

“Thank you guys,” Emily says, “but I haven’t actually signed on yet.”

“Everyone knows you have a lot to consider, but the brass needs an answer by tomorrow,” Rossi says to Emily. 

You look around and for the most part, everybody seems happy, like this is the best-case scenario, but Emily’s face tells a different story. 

“I hate to interrupt the bad news/good news with bad news/bad news, but we’ve got 3 missing kids in Delaware,” Garcia says as she reads her phone. 

As Garcia prepares to deliver the case, you make your way over to sit down next to Emily. 

“What’s wrong?” you ask her in a whisper. She looks over at you surprised, but she just shakes her head. 

“We can talk about it later,” she says, shooting you one of her forced smiles. 

“Ok,” you say with a nod, “later.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - -

The missing kids case ended up taking the team down to Delaware. It was a very time-sensitive case, so there wasn’t much of an available time for you and Emily to talk. Even on the jet ride back home, JJ and Reid sat down across from Emily before you got the chance, so you figured you would just wait until you landed. 

Luckily, even though Emily hadn’t officially taken the job yet, she was acting as Unit Chief in this case, which meant that if you stuck around in the bullpen long enough, eventually, you and Emily would be the only people left. 

“Bye (Y/N), bye Emily,” Tara says with a wave, as she walks out of the door. You wave back at her, before getting up from your desk, and walking over to Emily’s 

“It’s later,” you say, as you sit on the edge of Emily’s desk. She takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh, as she looks up at you. 

“Yeah, it is.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” you question, not wanting to sound too pushy, but hoping that Emily would open up to you. 

“It’s just this job, I’m still not sure what I am going to do,” she says as she runs a hand through her hair. 

“What are you leaning towards?” you ask. 

“I’m not sure,” she says with a shrug. “I talked to JJ and Reid about it.”

“They want you to stay,” you say, already knowing that they would do anything to have Emily back. 

“Yeah,” she says a nod. 

You reach over and gently place your hand on top of hers, causing her to look up at you. 

“But you don’t want to?” you ask. 

She looks you in the eye, but she doesn’t voice her answer to your question. 

“You’re worried you won’t be good enough,” you start to say, “You are scared that you will never be as good as Hotch. There is also a part of you that just loves London, and you don’t know if you are ready to give that part up yet. How am I doing?”

“Perfectly,” she says as she gives you a pained laugh. 

“Well, I can tell you right now, that you don’t have to worry about being as good as Hotch. You aren’t him, you’re Emily, and we all know that.” You see her smile start to work its way back onto her face. 

“And I know we might not be as good as London, but you’ll have this team, and we all see you as part of our family,” you continue. “But if you really don’t want the job, I won’t try to guilt-trip you into staying.”

“You want me to stay don’t you?” she asks as she looks down at your hands, yours still sitting on top of hers, and laces her fingers through yours. 

“What? No,” you say as a blush starts to work its way onto your face. “I want you to do what you think is best for you.”

“You’re a great profiler but you’re not a very good liar,” Emily says with a laugh.

“I’m not lying,” you insist. When Emily stops laughing, she looks you in the eye, and gently caresses the back of your hand with her thumb. 

“It’s ok, you can tell me,” she says quietly. “Tell me you want me to stay.”

“Ok, yeah, I want you to stay. I really want you to stay,” you say. 

“Ok, I’ll do it,” she says with a nod.

“Emily Prentiss you better not stay here just because I want you to,” you say. 

“Would that be so bad?” she asks, and you can tell that this is something that she has been thinking about. “Is it bad for me to want to stay because of you?”

“Em,” you say, but she is too caught up in her own words that she doesn’t notice. 

“Because I do, I want to stay for you. I want to spend more time with you. I want to get to know Chase and become a dog person. I want to stick around and learn more about you.”

“Em,” you try again, but she keeps on going. 

“I mean I know it is a bit unprofessional, especially now if I am going to be unit chief but I honestly just can’t even help the way you make me feel and...”

“Emily,” you say, and she finally stops her rambling and looks at you. “Stop talking.”

You lean down to her, and place your finger under her chin, lifting her face to meet yours. Gently, you place a light kiss on her lips.

You pull back and look into Emily’s eyes, a little scared of what her reaction would be. But before you know it Emily’s lips are back on yours.

She places her hand on your hips, and moves you to where you are sitting on her lap, all without taking her lips away from yours. You place your hands on both sides of her face, and pull her impossibly closer to you, deepening the kiss. 

When you finally pull away, both of you are panting, trying to catch your breath. Emily lets out a small giggle and the two of you sit there for a moment, admiring each other, still giddy from the kiss. 

“Remember when you profiled me,” you ask suddenly. Emily lets out a groan but starts to laugh a bit. 

“Yeah, how could I forget,” she says.

“Well, was your profile right?” you ask, and Emily’s smile widens. 

“No, not at all,” she says before wrapping her arms around you and placing another passionate kiss on your lips.


End file.
